Mail packet



A. F. EVERS April 8, 1958 MAIL PACKET Filed Oct. 29, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheetl IN V EN TOR.

A TTOR/VEY ALBERT E EVERS 1 A ril 8, 195a File ad Oct. 29, 1956 A. F.EVERS MAIL PACKET 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

ATTOR/VEX ALBERT F EVERS 4o WWM United S at s P lil o MAIL PACKET AlbertF. Evers, San Francisco, Calif.

Application October 29, 1956, Serial No. 618,838

4 Claims. (Cl. 23219) This invention relates to a receptacle forreceiving mail that has been inserted through a slot in a door, wall orthe like.

The invention has particular utility with home mail slots of the typeprovided at about waist height or higher in a garage door, house door,or wall of a house. The slot usually has a spring-urged, normally closedmetal flap, so that when the mailman makes his delivery, the mail pushesthe flap up to permit insertion of the mail through the slot, and thenthe flap springs back and closes the slot to prevent anyone outside fromreaching inside and stealing the mail.

The common failing of such mailboxes has been in the receipt of the mailon the other side of the slot. If the mail is to be prevented frommerely falling to the floor and scattering there, some sort ofreceptacle must be provided to catch it. Heretofore, the normal practicehas been to put a cardboard or wooden box underneath the slot, but thisarrangement has not proved satisfactory.

The mail frequently spilled out of open boxes and fell to the flooranyway, while covered boxes were inconvenient, not only for withdrawingthe mail but also because no one could find out whether there was anymail without actually reaching into the box. Also, the boxes tended tocatch and hold dirt, to get the mail dirty, and to dirty ones hand ingetting the mail.

Another disadvantage of such boxes was that they stood away from thewall and provided a formidable obstruction, particularly when used witha slot through a sideopening garage door. Such boxes have often beenstruck when the automobile was being backed out, to the damage of thecar as well as of the box. In the case of a slot through an overheaddoor, such a-box often hung and that can be mounted in place in a fewmoments by anyone.

Another important object is to make it possible for a bag-type of mailreceptacle to receive relatively long, still objects, such as books,magazines, and large envelopes, that may be inserted through the slot.This is accomplished by a novel seam structure and bag construction andmounting.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tight closure to bar theentry of dust into the receptacle whether there is mail in the bag ornot. The present invention achieves this object by providing a novelpocket spring which goes into the receptacle and urges the oppositesides away from each other, holding the open flap snugly closed butyielding readily to the entry of ones hand for withdrawing mail.

Another object of the invention is to provide a structure for causingall the mail to fall down below the withdrawal flap and not work its wayout of the withdrawal flap and onto the floor. This important object isachieved by a novel overlap structure in which an upper guide flapextends down below and inside of the withdrawal opening. This flapguides the mail down into the main pocket of the receptacle, well belowthe slot, while the pocket itself extends down far enough so that theentry guard 1 flap does not interfere with removal of the mail throughthe withdrawal opening.

In general, the receptacle of this invention comprises a transparentplastic bag through which'one can clearly see whether there is mailinside.

- of three main pieces of plastic-(l) a rear wall whose an upperhorizontal edge well below the mail slot, which down too far where onecould strike his head against it,

if he were not careful; but also, when the door was raised, any mailthen in the box tended to fall out.

One object of this invention is to solve these problems by providing anovel bag-type of receptacle to receive the mail. My new receptacle liessubstantially flush against the vertical door or wall, whether it isempty or filled with mail, and it is so constructed that it will catchand hold all the mail. Even when the slot is in an overhead type ofgarage door, my new receptacle will hang down vertically and will retainthe mail safely when the door is raised. My new receptacle will catchall the mail from whatever slot arrangement and hold it withoutproviding any significant obstruction, whatever the kind of mail slot.

One important feature of the invention is the provision of a transparentreceptacle, through which one can see even from a distance whether themail has come. Thus, in a city home with a garage door slot, anyone canopen the door leading from the house to the garage and can tell in aninstant whether the mail has come, without having to go and look or feelinside, as with covered boxes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mailreceiving receptaclethat is inexpensive to manufacture is not joined to the bag and providesthe withdrawal opening through which one can reach his hand to pick upthe mail; (3) a guard or upper flap whose upper edge is secured to thedoor or wall above the mail insertion slot and which extends over theslot and down below the withdrawal opening, its lower portion beingpositioned in between the front and rear walls. An important feature ofthe invention is the use of a pocket spring comprising spring wirefilament shaped to provide a central portion between two side-arms thatnormally diverge widely from each other; when inserted into the bag theside-arms are restrained by the pocket to a substantially verticalposition and provide a strong outward pressure that holds the bag fiatand keeps the withdrawal opening closed except when one reaches his handinto it.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description of a preferred embodiment thereof, given inaccordance with 35 U. S. C. 112.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a perspective view from inside a garage, showing a garage doorof the overhead type having a mail slot therethrough to which a mailreceiving receptacle embodying the present invention has been applied.The door .has been opened partway to show how the receptacle hangsvertically at all times.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view in rear elevation on an enlarged scale ofthe portion of the door carrying the mail slot and the receptacle shownin Fig. l, with the v garage door in its truly vertical position andwith mail in the bottom of the receptacle.

Fig. 3 is a view in horizontal section taken along the Y line 3-3 inFig. 2, with the thickness of the flaps and their spacing apart somewhatexaggerated to show them more clearly,.

The bag is composed Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, taken along theline 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation and in vertical section, taken alongthe line 5.5 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 6' is a fragmentary view of the upper portion of Fig. 5, showing apersons hand. reaching in and withdrawing mail from the pocket.

Fig. 7 is a view in side elevation and partly in section, of theoverhead-type garage door raised to its horizontal position, showing howthe bag hangs vertically even when the door is horizontal.

Fig. 8 is a view in elevation and partly in section, showing mail beinginserted through the slot into the bag, stiff objects in the mailpushing. the bag outwardly, while the guard flap guides the mail downinto the pocket instead of permitting it to fall on the floor.

Fig. 9 is a view in front elevation of the pocket spring withdrawn fromthe pocket.

Fig. 1 shows a garage 10 with an overhead type of garage door 11 mountedfor swinging movement on a carriage 12 with return and holding springs13. The invention is equally applicable to garage doors which open fromthe side and where, in fact, fewer Problems are presented so far as thefield of the present invention is concerned, the overhead type of' doorbeing shown here purely as an example and in order to. illustrate howthe present invention solves the problem of catching mail behind a mailslot in such a door.

Through the door 11 is a mail slot 14 having a slotted rear plate 15,(see Fig. 2), a slottedfront plate 16, (see Fig. 5), and a spring-urgedcover member or flap 17 which normally closes the slot 14 after. themail 18 has been inserted, to prevent anyone from withdrawing the mailfrom the outside through the slot 14. The slot 14 is conventional and isincluded only to explain the environment of the invention.

The invention itself comprises a plastic receptacle or bag 20 which ismade up principally of four main elements; 2. rear wall 21, a front wallor flap 22, a guard or guide flap 23, and a pocket spring 24. These fourelements are combined in. a novel manner to achieve the objects of theinvention, andthe bag 20 is mounted on the door 11 in a particularrelation to the mail slot 14 which is shown particularly well in Figs. 2and 8.

Therear wall 21, front wall 22, and. guard flap. 23 are preferably allmade from a strong plastic material such as window-clear vinylplastic.Various. thicknesses are usable but a. relatively thin stock such as0.003" thick has produced very satisfactory results and. is generallypreferred. The seams may be made by sewing, fusing, cementing, stapling,etc. Sewing may give additional, strength and is preferred for manyapplications, although not the onlyv way to achieve the results of thisinvention.

The rear wall 21 base reinforced upper horizontal edge 25 secured to thedoor 11, preferably by thumb-tacks 26, just below-the mail slot 14 andhangs down substantially vertically at all times. It hangs flat alongthe door 11 when the door is in its vertical or closed. position shownin Fig. 5; it hangs free, from the thumbtacks 26, when the door is inits horizontal position shown in Fig. 7.

The front flap 22 may be an integral piece of the rear wall 21, foldedover and seamed along the side edge 27, or it may be a separate pieceseamed to the wall 21 also at the lower edge 28. Thus, the front wall 22and rear wall 21 form a pocket 30 with an open end 31 adjacent the upperedge 32 of the front flap 22, parallel to the bottom edge 28 andpreferably about two-thirds of the way'up from the bottom 28 to the mailslot 14. This upper edge 32 is" preferably reinforced toprovideadditional strength, since it is subjected to wear bytheinsertion of hands'and withdrawal of mail.

The guard flap 23-is; also-a fiatrectangular Piece of plastic,preferably of the same kind of material; as the:

walls 21 and 22. Its reinforced upper edge 33 may be secured bythumb-tacks 34 or other convenient means to the door 11 above the mailslot 14, and the flap 23 therefore hangs down over the slot 14. Itextends down in between the rear wall 21 and front flap 22 with itslower edge 35 preferably lying about two or three inches below the upperedge 32 of the front flap 22. This relationship is an important featureof the invention, because it insures that all the mail dropped inthrough the slot 14 will fall into the pocket 30 below the withdrawalopening 31 at the upper edge 32 of the front flap 22 and cannot bepushed out onto the garage floor.

A portion 36 at each side of the guard flap 23 is seamed to the rearwall 21, the overlap portion 37 actually being sandwiched between thefront flap 22 and the rear wall 21. The seam 36 extends up above thewithdrawal opening 31 but ends several inches below the mail slot 14.From there on the side edges 38 of the guard flap 23 are free. Thismeans that, as shown in Fig. 8, stiff objects 18 can be inserted throughthe mail slot 14; they will temporarily force the guard flap 23'furtheraway from the door 11 but will not tear the seams 36 between it and therear wall 21, due to the slack space at 38. Then, after the object isdropped, it'is guided down by the guard flap overlap portions 37 intothe bottom of the pocket 30. (See Fig. 2.)

Within the pocket 30 of the receptacle 20 is the spring member 24.Preferably, this is made of steel wire of about 0.073" diameter, thoughother sizes may be used. This wire 24 is formed into the shape shown inFig. 9, with a central bottom edge portion 40, which is substantiallystraight before insertion into the pocket 30, and a pair of widelydivergent side edges 41 and 42 which extend out at an angle ofapproximately 65 with respect to the horizontal bottom edge 40. Thiswire 24 is insertedinto the pocket 30 between the front and rear walls22 and 21' between the rear wall 21 and the guard flap 23. Wheninserted, the side edges 41 and 42 are straightened. out, since thewidth of the springs lower edge 40 is substantially that of. the loweredge 28 of the pocket 30, within about /z. This forcing in of the upperends of the spring 24 results in the exertion of a strong springpressure to spread the bag out flat. The result is that the upper edge32 of the front flap 22 is retained. in the. closed position, where nodust can get into. the pocket 39. Note that, since it is a spring, itwill. yield readily to insertion of ones hand into the pocket 30 towithdraw the mail 18.

Installation. of, the bag 20 is very simple. It is sold, of course, as aunit, with the spring 24 inserted in the pocket.30. and withthe threefiaps or walls 21, 22, and 23, already sewnor otherwise seamed.Installation may be accomplishedwith anyv desired securing device, suchas six thumb-tacks, three tacks 26. being used to fasten the; top edge25 of the rear flap 23 just below the mail slot 14 and three tacks 34being used to fasten the top edge 33 of, the guard flap 23 just abovethe mail slot 14.

With the receptacle 20 in position, its use is simple. As shown in Fig.8, the postman inserts the mail 18 through the slot. 14 and this resultsin temporarily forcing the guard flap 23 out away from the slot 14 andpushes the receptacle 29 away from the door 11, and also pushes the flap23 away from the rear wall 21. After it has been inserted far enough topass through the slot 14, the mail 18 falls by gravity down into thepocket 30, below the overlap portion 37 of the guard flap, and, due tothe spring 24 and to the weight of the mail 18, the shape shown in Fig.5 is automatically resumed. When one wishes to withdraw the mail, hesimply reaches his hand in through the pocket opening 31 between thefront fiap upper edge 32 and theguard flap 23 and reaches down into thepocket 30,- picks up the mail 18 and withdraws it. After he has takenthe mail out,'the spring 24 automatically closes the opening 31again sothat dust is kept out of; the; device;

The mail. cannot. work itselfoutof the:

pocket 30 due to the overlap portion 37 of the guide flap 23 and iscarried vertically, no matter what the position of the door 11.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, manychanges in construction and widely differing embodiments andapplications of the invention will suggest themselves without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and thedescription herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be inany sense limiting.

I claim:

1. A receptacle adapted to be secured to a partition having a mail slottherethrough, for receipt of and retention of mail inserted through saidslot, comprising a flexible bag having a rear wall with its upper edgeadapted to be secured to said partition below and closely adjacent tosaid slot, a front wall shorter than said rear wall and seamed to saidrear wall along the side and bottom edges to form a pocket open alongthe upper edge of said front wall, and a guide flap with its upper edgeextending higher than the upper edge of said rear wall and adapted to besecured to said partition above said slot, said guide flap extendingdown below said upper edge of said front wall and between said front andrear walls; and a pocket spring comprising a central portion anddivergent side arms, fitting in said pocket with its central portionoverlying said bottom edge and its side arms forced inwardly andparallel to each other by the seamed side edges, for holding said pockettaut and closing it against dust while yielding to permit withdrawal ofthe mail therefrom.

2. A receptacle adapted to be secured to a door having a mail slottherethrough for receipt and retention of mail inserted through saidslot, comprising a flexible transparent plastic bag having a rear wallwith its upper edge adapted to be secured to said door below and closelyadjacent to said slot, a front wall shorter than said rear wall andseamed to said rear wall along the side and bottom edges to form apocket with the upper edge of said front wall unseamed to provide anopening for withdrawal of mail from said pocket, and a guide flap withits upper edge extending higher than the upper edge of said rear walland adapted to be secured to said door above said slot, said guide flapextending down over said slot and below said upper edge of said frontwall and between said front and rear walls to provide an overlap portionhaving its side edges seamed to said rear wall, the portion of saidguide flap above said overlap portion also having its side edges seamedto said rear wall up to a point several inches below the upper edge ofsaid rear Wall and being unseamed thereabove; and a pocket springcomprising a central portion substantially the width of said pocket anddivergent side arms, fitting in said pocket with its central portionabove and adjacent said bottom edge and the side arms held generallyparallel to each other by the seamed side edges, for holding said pockettaut and closing it against dust while yielding to permit withdrawal ofthe mail therefrom.

3. A receptacle adapted to be secured to a partition having a mail slottherethrough, for receipt of and retention of mail inserted through saidslot, comprising a flexible bag having a rear wall with its upper edgeadapted to be secured to said partition below and closely adjacent tosaid slot, a front wall shorter than said rear wall and joined to saidrear wall along the side and bottom edges to form a pocket, open alongthe upper edge of said front wall, and a guide flap with its upper edgeextending higher than the upper edge of said rear wall and adapted to besecured to said partition above said slot, said guide flap extendingdown below said upper edge of said front wall and between said front andrear walls with lower portions of its side edges joined to said rearwall; and spring means fitting in said pocket for holding said pockettaut and closing it against dust while yielding to permit Withdrawal ofthe mail therefrom.

4. A receptacle for receipt of and retention of mail, comprising atransparent flexible plastic bag having a rear wall, a front wallshorter than said rear wall and seamed to said rear wall along the sideand bottom edges to form a pocket, and a guide flap with its upper edgeextending higher than the upper edge of said rear wall, said guide flapextending down below said upper edge of said front wall and between saidfront and rear walls, the side edges of the guide flap that lie belowthe upper edge of said front wall being seamed to said rear wall; andspring means for holding said pocket taut and closing it against dustwhile yielding to permit withdrawal of the mail therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS359,458 Moore Mar. 15, 1887 449,593 Scott Mar. 31, 1891 1,337,698Gongora Apr. 20, 1920 1,791,961 McBride Mar. 24, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS447,868 Australia May 27, 1936

